Breaking The Wall
by Vaeru
Summary: Transformers AU. Sequel to Dreaming of Who? Metellus’ human menagerie just keeps growing. Meallanmouse’s fanfanfiction prize.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers. All recognizable characters are the property of HasTak. All unrecognizable ones are the intellectual property of yours truly; their theft is punishable by severe voodoo-induced pain in any and all sensitive organs of the body, followed by eternal damnation.

Because, you know, stealing is wrong.**  
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**Title: **Breaking The Wall 

**Summary: **Transformers AU. Sequel to Dreaming of Who? Metellus' human menagerie just keeps growing. Meallanmouse's fanfanfiction prize.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings: **Mild language.

**Author Notes: **I have to reiterate for those who don't know: _my laptop has died._ It is an hour away in a computer shop being repaired, and I am doing my best with my parents' dinosaur of a PC on this end. Bear with me. I _am_ working on Jux.

Here we have the promised sequel to "Dreaming of Who?", one of Meallanmouse's prizes for her winning entry in the Juxtaposition Fanfanfiction Contest.

Welcome aboard, Mel. ;3**  
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**Breaking The Wall**_**  
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_**Howl:** See that new color on the dial? There's a new portal. It's a present for you. Come see.  
_**-Howl's Moving Castle**

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Cafei was not certain how the latest 'guest' was supposed to arrive oboard; she herself had been 'POOFED!' aboard the Autobot ship Metellus Cursor as a somewhat untraditional birthday present. Was she supposed to be looking for another cloud of smoke? Would the guest just blink into existence? Would there be a wormhole? A Star Trek-inspired swirl of glitter in the air? 

Most importantly, should she decide on a hiding place to ensure her own survival when Ratchet discovered a third human in his 'bay?

"What are you scheming up now?"

"Scheming?" Cafei craned her neck back, looking away from the spacious vista of gray walls, gray floor, gray ceiling, and gray door, to squint at her current roommate. Evelyn was bent over a cube of water, scrubbing at her dirty slacks with the single-minded determination of a woman gone too long without washer, dryer, or soap. _"Moi? _This isn't scheming. This is brooding. Big difference."

"What do you have to brood about?" The older woman peered over at her, eyes narrowed. "You didn't magic marker Sunstreaker again, did you?"

"Death by duct tape is not the way I want to go, Evelyn."

"Paint Gears?"

"No."

"Graffiti Ratchet?"

"No, Evelyn."

"Graffiti_ anyone?"_

"No!"

"Modern metal sculpture from spare parts?"

"No."

"Fun with Play-Doh?"

"You _know _Ratchet confiscated my stash."

"... you _really _didn't graffiti anyone?" Evelyn's expression was puzzled and more than a little amazed.

Cafei might have been forced to find something to throw at the other woman (a shoe was her weapon of choice, though something heavier was sounding wonderfully appropriate at the moment), but a strange sizzling, crackling sound caught her attention, something between frying bacon and a crackling fire, and she looked up.

There was a line in the air. It appeared to be three feet wide, shimmering white and quivering like a bit of electricity, hanging like a piece of thread pulled taut between two invisible hands, and as Cafei and Evelyn watched, it expanded downward, flaring brightly, and forming a rectangle of blazing, hissing light. Then there were voices.

_"--this is safe?"_

_"Oh, perfectly. Come on."_

_"But what about--"_

_"It'll be fun! They're giant do-gooder mechs with chivalrous streaks miles wide. What could go wrong?"_

_"You couldn't just POOF me there?"_

_"Variety is the spice of life, dear! Off you go!"_

_"But--wha--wait, don't--!" _The voice broke off in a sharp shriek, and a girl with red hair and wide eyes came flying out of the shining rectangle, propelled by the arm that followed her partly through.

"Oh,_ hell,"_ breathed Cafei, and then she and the table became intimately acquainted as she was slammed upon it by a hundred-something pounds of falling human.

Eyesight blurry and lungs MIA, she squinted blearily up at the floating portal. The hand had withdrawn, and now a head and bit of torso were poking through. She had a vague impression of a long ponytail and glinting eyeglasses.

"There you go, hon!" called the head cheerily. "Remember what I said. Have fun, mind your manners, and don't get stepped on!"

A pained grunt as Cafei's passenger rolled aside was the only reply. The head disappeared back through the portal, and with a pop and fizzle, the light disappeared.

A moment of silence.

"Erm... Cafei?" came Evelyn's dazed query.

"Mrf," replied Cafei intelligently, then coughed experimentally. "I'm alive."

"Hi, guys," rasped the newcomer.

Cafei rolled her head toward the red-haired girl. "Meallanmouse, right? She said you might be dropping in." A thoughtful pause, then, "I didn't know she was being literal, though."

The girl chuckled weakly. "Mel," she said. "Please, just Mel."

Another moment passed, broken only by the slowly-steadying breaths of the two girls. Evelyn abandoned her laundry and walked across the table to stand over the pair. She leapt back with a yelp when the red-haired girl bolted into a sitting position.

"Yes! I made it!" she crowed. She looked at Cafei. "I'm really here, right? Metellus Cursor, the freakishly huge Autobot-masquerading-as-a-ship? This is it, right?"

Cafei eased into a sitting position, ribs grumbling. "Yeah, yeah, welcome aboard. Metellus Cursor. Giant robots. Ratchet, Prowl, Blue, Jazz, the whole shebang."

"Ye-e-es!" The girl punched one hand skyward and laughed. "All right! Okay, I want to see _everything. _Medbay, rec room, washracks,_ everything. _I was guaranteed one all-expenses paid vacation plus tour and meet-and-greets with all the 'bots, and according to Vae--"

The girl broke off in a muffled squeak as Cafei clamped one hand over her mouth. The brunette grinned up at the older woman who was still eyeing the newcomer warily; Cafei was very familiar with that expression since it was the one Evelyn had worn for the better part of Cafei's first month onboard. It still popped up from time to time, but this was the first time it had not been directed at the artist. "'Scuse us, Evy."

Cafei scrambled to her feet, dragged the red-haired girl to hers, and towed her over to the towel-lined box of Juxtaposition fame.

"Okay, look," murmured Cafei, darting a glance at the older woman whose expression was slowly morphing from wary to irritated. "No mentioning Aeru-Vay to Evelyn, 'kay? Hush-hush."

"What, you mean she doesn't know about V--" Cafei glared, and the girl stammered, "Erm... You-Know-Who?"

"Look. Mel. There's this thing called the Third Wall --theatre term," said the brunette. "It's the invisible wall between the stage and this audience. We--" She gestured between them. "--are_ breaking _that wall. Evelyn does not know about... You-Know-Who, and You-Know-Who does not want Evelyn to know about her, even if this _is _Evy's dream-verse. Got it?"

"I get it." The girl nodded her understanding. "She wants to keep Evelyn acting realistically, right?"

Cafei blinked, glanced at the now-very-irritated college professor, and sniggered. "Are you kidding? She's terrified of Evelyn breaking through the Wall and hunting her down for all the misery she's put her through."

"... Oh."

"Not even counting Sunstreaker. Or Sideswipe." She blinked, then shuddered. "Or Ratchet."

Faint tremors thrummed through the table, and the red-haired girl looked around worriedly. "What's that?"

"Speak of the devil," murmured Cafei.

The last had been loud enough for Evelyn to hear. The older woman folded her arms over her chest. "That," she called, "would be a giant alien robot. Try not to make a scene."

Cafei huffed loudly. "You glomp _one _mech, and suddenly you're 'making a scene.'"

"He had to _pry you off." _

"Look, Jazz is huggability squared. Bite me."

The door whooshed open, and all three woman stared up at the glowering countenance of the ship's CMO. Cafei sniggered to herself when she saw the faint tic at the corner of one glowing blue optic when he took in the presence of not one, not two, but _three _humans.

"Not again," he growled.

Cafei grinned winningly up at the medic. "Ratchet, my main mech, I'd like you to meet Meallanmouse. Would you hunt down Jazz for us? Mel here wants the tour."**  
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**End Breaking The Wall**


End file.
